NaNoWriMo: I almost gave up a few days ago. It was very weird. I’m generally a pretty fucking determined person when I decided to do something hard. BUT I didn’t. Which means I’ve been pounding away there. I’m about 5k from winning, eeek! I can totally do this.

Graduate School: You’ve heard me complain about this one if you follow me on twitter (you don’t follow me on twitter? That’s crazy. I’m funny. I like to chat with people. I post snippets of poetry, reblog book reviews, talk about life stuff). As the end of the semester draws close, work for school is ramping up, and I have some big projects I have to get done.

Work: Here’s the kicker in my life. My school pays me to go to school — they pay for my credits, a stipend, and health insurance. But that is in exchange for “20” hours of work a week, which is more often more than that.

That fucking commute: With good weather, I commute about 10 hours a week. Darn snowstorms are ruining my life.

I’m writing a book: I realize this goes with NaNo, sort of. But this NaNo project is also book #3, and it involves research and a lot more plan/thinking than I usually do during NaNo, which I usually complete in an insane style.

My kids: Who have decided they do not like all of the things pulling me away from them and have (particularly the younger) become very, very challenging. Sigh.

What it Takes:Virtual Book Tour is coming soon! Promo stuff is getting going, which is a lot of planning and writing! I’m finishing last minute detail checks on the manuscript. Oh gosh the release is so soon, I AM SO EXCITED.

I’m sick: I haven’t been sick in at least 6 months. With a cold I mean, we won’t speak of the stomach virus of death from September or the surgery/hospitalizations in July. I mean a cold. I thought I was going to get through the semester without getting sick because I’ve been fending off some doozies that are taking out my classmates. No dice.

Holidays: Thanksgiving! Yay! I love family holidays. But ya know, that means I’m not here as much.

My freaking hands: Sometimes I struggle with typing because of my bad hands and elbows. The NaNo and schoolwork and driving have all combined to make this hard. But school break is coming up soon and they’ll get to rest and heal, and next semester I’m hoping to commute only 3 days a week and not four.

Long and the short: My life is so crazypants right now, I’m surprised I’m coherent. I maybe just coughed up a lung on you guys. QUICK, EVERYONE RUN A VIRUS SCAN ON THEIR COMPUTER.

I think I’m funny. Just pat my head and pretend I am.

As we draw closer to What it Takes, I’ll be posting excerpts and as I did prior to the release of Hush, character bios. In the 10 days leading up to release, I’ll be doing my ten tiny spoiler tweets, each 1 line from the book.

Soon as well I’ll be posting links to book giveaways through Goodreads, and you can enter to win a free copy of What it Takes.

IN THE MEAN TIME, AND THIS IS IMPORTANT:

Interlude Press is having a huge sale through Monday: all books and e-books are 30% off! WHAT. And you guys, this applies to pre-sale book, which are a great deal already because for the price of the paper book you get the DRM-Free multi format books. That means that you can get BOTH for the price of ONE at 30% off right now. Just use the code 30STORIES.

BOOM. If you’ve been waiting to get Hush, or are ready to make a killing on pre-ordering What it Takes, I’ma suggest you get your tush over there. Plus, it’s a great time to stock up on all IP titles. Trust me, it’s all gold. I’ve read every single one of those badboys (well not the pre-order ones yet, but I will soon).

This story is love as a verb. I don’t even know if that will make sense to anyone, but that’s what it is.

It’s an emotionally difficult book to read, but I applaud Burton for tackling such a difficult story and just executing it brilliantly. There was nothing prettied up for this book about Landon’s injury or recovery; it was slow and difficult and there were successes and setbacks.

I really appreciated that Burton paid such good attention to Dylan’s emotional journey, beyond caring for and loving Landon so much. With Landon’s physical trauma, it could have been easy to create a more formulaic book that focused just on him and gave him a perfect partner. But Dylan isn’t perfect, he is just as damaged by the events of that night as Landon. And together and individually these men have to learn how to heal and to move on.

Underpinning this book is a constant and very beautiful sense of love and community. Their families are beautifully flawed, but also come together and love and support both Dylan and Landon in individually helpful and at times frustrating ways — but ultimately, without that community, none of them would have gotten through the experience as well as they did.

I have to admit I’ve never had a family member suffer a brain trauma, but I have cared for a parent in end of life transition who had multiple brain tumors that changed him completely (both his personality but also his abilities) and his decline was very painful to watch. I felt so much understanding and honesty and care from Burton for her characters, as well as honest portrayal of what people who love someone but are watching this happen to a family member/loved one are going through.

The icing on the cake is Burton’s writing which is clear, consistent, and lovely throughout.

Highly recommended, along with a box of Kleenex.

You can find Becca Burton here, and her books are available to order at

ANYWAY, the point is that I am FINALLY announcing the winner of the Sock-Off contest! I got lots of great pictures of socks — you all have some fucking awesome socks — but the grand prize goes to Carol, who sent me a little collage of socks that included socks I have a burning need in my life for…the fuck you socks.

I should be clear that I am actually the nicest person and not generally angry, but man. Don’t you think that sometimes your feet need to tell people to fuck off? I mean, also, the perfection of these socks when you’re telling your roommate to stay clear so you can do it?? Especially with Cam and Nate’s friendship; this is exactly the kind of joke they’d share in the right spirit and laughter.

So congrats Carol!! Carol is the winner of a signed copy of Hush, or when it comes out if she wants, of What it Takes.

And I dropped the ball over here. I apologize; I can give a lengthy description of *why* I did, but that’s so besides the point right now. Because holy fuck was this a crazy good week for a writer. The stuff of dreams.

FIRST:Last weekend, I’m sitting around, wallowing in self pity because I have so much studying to do when I am contacted by my publisher with the crazy-pants news that I not only received a great review in Publishers Weekly, but that I received a STARRED review that is in it’s own little, eye-catching box. If you’d like to see how pretty it is, here ya go! I’d copy it here as an image, but the text is super blurry. As far as *what* they said, here you go:

“ … Sierra (Hush) uses rich characterization and lyrical writing to infuse this slow-building romance with depth, humor, and pathos. Readers will savor every dip and peak of Milo and Andrew’s relationship as they balance the need for safety with the necessary risk of pursuing happiness.” —Publishers Weekly

I am so freaking honored by this, I can’t even.

SECOND: So I’m still freaking out about this when it hits me Tuesday evening (while I’m in class…yes I was on Tumblr during class. This never happens but I guess I was bored), and the girl who sits next to me (a lovely friend), points out that I scrolled past the announcement of my book pre-sale going live. WTF?? Like, I know I’ve been mentioning it, but for some reason the reality of it being so close hadn’t hit me yet. Weird. You’d think that since I went through this rodeo with Hush I’d be used to this. Maybe this is the kind of stuff you never get used to? Maybe one day I’ll get to ask a crazy established author.

So pre-sale is awesome because you get a great deal– if you by the paper copy of the book (which you guys, the cover art is done so much more justice in the paper book. It’s gorgeous no matter what but it’s stunning in person), you get the e-book for free. The e-book is DRM-free and multi-format, which is awesome.

The book will be released on January 14th 2016, so put it on your calendars!

THIRDand finally: Sock Saturday Throwback Thursday contest is closed! I have to sort through the entries to pick a winner, but if you don’t win this one, rest assured there will be more contests in the future.

The end of my Throwback Thursday Sock Saturday contest is coming up (11/14/15): for those of you who have tweeted, linked or blogged your sock entries, thank you! Man are there some awesome socks out there.

For those of you who haven’t yet, send me your socks!! They can be made, bought, pinned, dug out of drawers mismatched…have at it. Remember, the winner of the contest gets their choice of a free signed copy of either Hush or my upcoming novel, What it Takes!

Sock Saturday is a little ritual I created for one of my main characters in Hush, Cam, and his roommate Nate. It was one of those moments that came to me, made me laugh, and have been told by readers that they enjoyed throughout.

Although there are tiny moments I could share with you from Hush, I thought I’d share an excerpt that is also one of my favorite moments in the book. The scene this is lifted from was lovely to write (even the intense sexy part that comes before this) — it’s one of the first time we see Wren let down some of his walls. It’s the first time he’s been unguarded enough to let himself get to know Cam. And for Cam, this was a favorite moment to write; so much of this book was this journey for him. I loved giving him this empowering moment.

~*~

“Won’t Nate be back?” he asks.

“Good point,” Cam picks his phone back up.

“What are you doing?” Wren turns onto his side, fluffing Cam’s pillow under his head.

“For the first time in two years, I’m soxiling him,” Cam says with a laugh. “I’ve never gotten to. Oh the power!” he jokes. Wren smiles and it’s the first true one Cam’s seen that looks true and easy.

“Help me find a good picture,” Cam puts his head close to Wren’s on the pillow and holds the phone up for both of them to look at.

“Of what?” Wren tilts his head to see.

“Socks,” Cam says.

“What the hell, socks?”

“You know how people used to do the sock over the door thing as a signal?” Cam asks.

“Oh,yeah,” Wren says.

“So Nate thought it was hilarious. but wasn’t going to do it. So he started texting me the word ‘socks,’ and eventually we started calling it ‘soxiling’. Or ‘Sock Saturday,’ because that’s usually when I get booted. Then he started sending me pictures of funny socks.”

“Hey, I have a question.” Wren half sits and looks at Cam seriously. “Have you, like, come out to anyone?”

“Well, they set me up with Jason, so yeah. I mean,” Cam shrugs. “I didn’t come out and say the words.”

“Hmm.” Wren lies back down. Cam is searching for the right pair of socks when Wren stops him. “Those.”

“Rainbow socks?”

“Make it official,” Wren says.

“What, should I add ‘Hey I’m gay’ or something?” Cam jokes, copying the picture and dropping it into a text.

“If you want to. I don’t know. I…when I finally came out, there was a lot of power in saying the words. It was…” Wren squints as if he’s struggling to find the words. “Really affirming and liberating.”

Cam thinks for a moment. “Not Peyton. Knowing her, she already knows. She’s always been better at figuring me out than I have.” Wren snorts softly and Cam shoots him a questioning look. Wren just gestures for Cam to continue.

“I’m not…I don’t know, when I figured this all out, I wasn’t ashamed or afraid or necessarily worried about if I was gay. Am. It feels….right. My parents, though…”

“Are they conservative?” Wren asks.

“Well, we’re from nowhere Nebraska. I really have no idea how they’ll react, but I doubt it will be pleasant.” Cam bites his lip and takes a deep breath, pushing that away. He’s got Wren in his bed, talking and open-limbed and easy and he wants to capture it, stretch the moment as long as he can before Wren backs off. He tilts the phone back so Wren can see and types, You’ve been soxiled. Oh and by the way, I’m gay. This makes Wren laugh, and Cam laughs too. It does feel a little liberating; not because Nate doesn’t know, but because he’s not yet said the words to anyone, and it feels a little like coming home.

~*~

My upcoming novel, What it Takes, will be available for pre-sale starting November 10th, so keep your eyes peeled for that!

Told myself I’d blog every Wednesday. It’s even on my passion planner, where I have days planned hour to hour.

Wednesday’s post was a reader response question (which was yay! I got a question). I don’t really feel like that’s going to cut it. I am so out of words right now. Which sucks because my book is dropping for presale the 10th (not the 14th as I previously notes, IDK what is wrong with me). Anywho. Sigh.

I swear, y’all, I am an interesting and complex human being with lots of great things to say, especially about What it Takes and how it was born (NaNo!!).

Justdelovely: So I read Hush a while ago and loved it. Cam went alone to see Frostbite Bay, a documentary about Iceland. Being an Icelander, I totally wondered what exactly that documentary was about. So what is it about? 🙂

Thank you so much! I am so glad to hear that you liked it.

I have to admit that I completely made up that movie title. Generally, other than a song or two, I make up book, movie and game names. I think that maybe I referenced real TV shows (Cupcake Wars? Is that a real show? Law and Order). But I never get to watch movies, and I live under a rock, and sometimes referencing actual titles can date a book down the line, you know?